Article Synopsis
- Snorkelers in mangrove waters experience discomfort from a sensation called "stinging water" linked to the presence of the upside-down jellyfish, Cassiopea xamachana.
- The research identifies unique structures called cassiosomes in C. xamachana, composed of stinging cells (nematocytes) and symbiotic dinoflagellates, which are effective in killing prey and released in their mucus.
- The study also found similar cassiosome structures in four other jellyfish in the same family, suggesting that mucus containing these structures is responsible for the stinging sensation reported by snorkelers.
Video Abstracts
Category Ranking
98%
Total Visits
921
Avg Visit Duration
2 minutes
Citations
20
Article Abstract
Snorkelers in mangrove forest waters inhabited by the upside-down jellyfish Cassiopea xamachana report discomfort due to a sensation known as stinging water, the cause of which is unknown. Using a combination of histology, microscopy, microfluidics, videography, molecular biology, and mass spectrometry-based proteomics, we describe C. xamachana stinging-cell structures that we term cassiosomes. These structures are released within C. xamachana mucus and are capable of killing prey. Cassiosomes consist of an outer epithelial layer mainly composed of nematocytes surrounding a core filled by endosymbiotic dinoflagellates hosted within amoebocytes and presumptive mesoglea. Furthermore, we report cassiosome structures in four additional jellyfish species in the same taxonomic group as C. xamachana (Class Scyphozoa; Order Rhizostomeae), categorized as either motile (ciliated) or nonmotile types. This inaugural study provides a qualitative assessment of the stinging contents of C. xamachana mucus and implicates mucus containing cassiosomes and free intact nematocytes as the cause of stinging water.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
|---|---|
| http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7018847 | PMC |
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s42003-020-0777-8 | DOI Listing |
Publication Analysis
Top Keywords
Similar Publications
Biodiversity of jellyfish in the Indian coastal Ecosystem: Structural diversity, functional ecology, and venom dynamics with global implications.
Mar Environ Res
October 2025
Centre for Ocean Research, Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology, Chennai, 600 119, India.
Jellyfish are the most influential taxa in the marine ecosystem, establishing a prominent effect on the food web, and economic and fishing aspects of a particular environment. These gelatinous zooplanktons tend to have both positive and negative impacts on a specific ecosystem. Jellyfish swarming, blooms, and the invasion of non-indigenous species instigate economic and environmental implications.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSymbiotic nutrient exchange enhances the long-term survival of cassiosomes, the autonomous stinging-cell structures of .
mSphere
January 2024
Laboratory for Biological Geochemistry, School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland.
Medusae of the widely distributed upside-down jellyfish release autonomous, mobile stinging structures. These so-called cassiosomes play a role in predator defense and prey capture, and are major contributors to "contactless" stinging incidents in (sub-)tropical shallow waters. While the presence of endosymbiotic dinoflagellates in cassiosomes has previously been observed, their potential contribution to the metabolism and long-term survival of cassiosomes is unknown.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCassiosomes are stinging-cell structures in the mucus of the upside-down jellyfish Cassiopea xamachana.
Commun Biol
February 2020
Center for Bio/Molecular Science and Engineering, US Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC, 20375, USA.
Article Synopsis
- Snorkelers in mangrove waters experience discomfort from a sensation called "stinging water" linked to the presence of the upside-down jellyfish, Cassiopea xamachana.
- The research identifies unique structures called cassiosomes in C. xamachana, composed of stinging cells (nematocytes) and symbiotic dinoflagellates, which are effective in killing prey and released in their mucus.
- The study also found similar cassiosome structures in four other jellyfish in the same family, suggesting that mucus containing these structures is responsible for the stinging sensation reported by snorkelers.
Molecular characterisation of a cellular conveyor belt in Clytia medusae.
Dev Biol
December 2019
Sorbonne Université, MNHN, CNRS, EPHE, Institut de Systématique, Evolution, Biodiversité (ISYEB UMR 7205), Paris, France. Electronic address:
The tentacular system of Clytia hemisphaerica medusa (Cnidaria, Hydrozoa) has recently emerged as a promising experimental model to tackle the developmental mechanisms that regulate cell lineage progression in an early-diverging animal phylum. From a population of proximal stem cells, the successive steps of tentacle stinging cell (nematocyte) elaboration, are spatially ordered along a "cellular conveyor belt". Furthermore, the C.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF